Sparky Anderson
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (born February 22, 1934 in Bridgewater, South Dakota) is fifth on the all-time list for manager career wins in Major League Baseball (behind Connie Mack, John McGraw, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox) and is the first manager to win the World Series while leading clubs in both leagues. He piloted the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. Either manager in the 1984 Series would have been the first to win in both leagues, since San Diego Padres (NL) manager Dick Williams had previously won the series with the Oakland Athletics (AL) in 1972 and 1973. Anderson's accomplishment was equalled in the 2006 World Series, when St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa (who had previously won the World Series with the Oakland Athletics in 1989, and who considers Anderson his mentor) led his team to the title over the Detroit Tigers. Coincidentally, Tigers manager Jim Leyland could also have achieved this same feat, having won a championship while managing the Florida Marlins in 1997. Playing career Anderson was a "good field, no hit" middle infielder as a player. He spent one season in the major leagues, as the regular second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies in . However, a .218 average with no power ended his big-league career at that point. He played the next four seasons with Triple-A Toronto Maple [[minor league baseball|minor league clubs at the A and Double-A levels, including a season ( , Anderson moved into the manager's job in Toronto and later nal League]], but never got a second chance in the majors. Finally, in ) in the Reds' minor league system. During this period, he managed a Western Carolina League, the California Leaguethe 1966 1966 with St. Petersburg of the Florida State League, 1967 with Modesto of the pennant winner in four consecutive seasons: 1965 with Rock Hill ofseason that Sparky's club lost to Miami 4-3 in 29 innings, which remains the longest pro game pl and 1968 with Asheville of the Southern League. It was during ayed (by innings) without interruption. He made his wayBaseball Year|1969}} as a coach for the San Diego Padres. Finally, back to the majors in 1970, Anderson was named manager of the Reds. Manager Anderson won 102 games and the pennant in his first Major League season as manager, but then lost the World Series in five games to the Baltimore Orioles. After an injury-plagued season, the Reds came back and won another pennant in , but lost to the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. They took the National League West division title in , then finished a close second to the Los Angeles Dodgers a year later. Finally, in , the Reds blew the division open by winning 108 games, swept the National League Championship Series and then edged the Boston Red Sox in a drama-filled, seven-game World Series. They repeated in by winning 102 games and ultimately sweeping the New York Yankees in the Series. Over the course of these two seasons, Anderson's Reds compiled an astounding 14-3 record in postseason play against the Pirates, Philles, Red Sox and Yankees, winning their last 8 in a row in the postseason after triumphing against the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, and then winning seven straight games in the 1976 postseason. During this time, Anderson became known as "Captain Hook" for his penchant for taking out a starting pitcher at the first sign of weakness and going to his bullpen, relying heavily on closers Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick. When the aging Reds finished second to the Dodgers in each of the next two seasons, Anderson was fired. The Reds won the division title again in but lost three straight to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the League Championship Series. They would not make the playoffs again until they won the World Series in by sweeping the heavily favored Oakland A's. Anderson moved on to the young Detroit Tigers after being hired as their new manager on June 14, . The Tigers became a winning club almost immediately, but did not get into contention until , when they finished second. In , Detroit opened the season 35-5 (a major league record) and breezed to a 104-58 record (a franchise record for wins). They swept the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and then beat the San Diego Padres in five games in the World Series for Anderson's third world title. After the season, Anderson won the first of his two Manager of the Year Awards with the Tigers. With a 9-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on July 29, he became the first to achieve 600 career wins as a manager in both the American and National Leagues. Anderson led the Tigers to the majors' best record in , but the team was upset in the ALCS by the Minnesota Twins. He won his second Manager of the Year Award that year. After contending again in (finishing second to Boston by one game in the AL East), the team collapsed a year later, losing a startling 103 games. During that 1989 season, Anderson took a month-long leave of absence from the team as the stress of losing wore on him. First base coach Dick Tracewski managed the team in the interim. In , the Tigers finished last in batting average, first in batting strike outs and near the bottom of the league in most pitching categories, but still led their division in late August before settling for a second-place finish behind the rival Toronto. The team featured a power-packed lineup of sluggers Cecil Fielder, Mickey Tettleton, and Rob Deer, which led the league in home runs and walks that season. Anderson retired from managing after the season, reportedly disillusioned with the state of the league following the 1994 strike that had also truncated the beginning of the 1995 season. It is widely believed that Anderson was pushed into retirement by the Tigers, who were unhappy that Sparky refused to manage replacement players during spring training in 1995. He finished with a lifetime record of 2194-1834, for a .545 percentage. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in . His Hall of Fame plaque has him wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform. He spent the larger portion of his career managing the Tigers (1970-78 with the Reds, 1979-95 with the Tigers), but he won two World Series with the Reds and one with the Tigers. He was also inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame the same year. A day in his honor was also held at Detroit's Comerica Park during the 2000 season. On May 28, , during pre-game ceremonies in Cincinnati, Anderson's jersey number, 10, was retired by the Reds. Anderson's number in Detroit, 11, has been inactive since 1995. However, it has not been officially retired by the Tigers. In , construction was completed on the "Sparky Anderson Baseball Field" at California Lutheran University's new athletic complex. In 2007, Anderson was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Anderson has resided for many years in Thousand Oaks, California. He was universally known as "Sparky" during his time in baseball, but in private life goes by his given name of "George". Besides his love of baseball, he is also an avid, lifelong golfer. Media appearances * In 1979, Sparky guest-starred as himself on an episode of (appropriately enough) WKRP in Cincinnati. The episode (titled Sparky), features Anderson as a talk-show host on the fictional station. Eventually Sparky is let go, which causes him to say, "I must be crazy. Every time I come to (Cincinnati) I get fired!" * Anderson appears as himself in the 1983 Disney Channel movie Tiger Town. * Since his retirement from baseball, he has occasionally appeared in the sports media with comments about the Tigers. * He was often paired with Jack Buck on radio coverage of post-season action during the 1980s and 1990s. * From 1996 to 1998, was an announcer for the Angels cable broadcast. * Threw out the ceremonial first pitch of Game 2 of the 2006 World Series at Comerica Park. Watch [http://www.scvtv.com/html/sg012507-sports.html Interview with Sparky Anderson] (10 min., free) Notes and references See also * 1984 Detroit Tigers season External links * * * Category:1934 births Anderson, Sparky Category:Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Category:Cincinnati Reds managers Category:Detroit Tigers managers Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:Major league second basemen Category:Living people Category:Major league players from South Dakota Category:Manager of the Year Award Category:People from McCook County, South Dakota Category:People with Parkinson's disease Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:Hall of Fame Category:Players